Paul Orzel photography

Just a few weeks after my first visit to the area around Ithaca I had another opportunity to visit. I often travel for work. As such, I spend time each month in Connecticut. Normally the route home, to Ohio, takes me across central PA. This time, I thought,  small detour north would be fun. Usually Friday is my travel day, but in this case I departed Thursday evening and drove to a hotel in Ithaca. This allowed me to get to the gorge before sunrise, next morn’ easily. 

I parked upstream and walked along it, following the flow. This led to two nice photographs.

The first is a shot taken with my camera facing downstream. As I was setting up I noticed another photographer upstream from me, watching as I assembled my rig. Not surprisingly, the Actus often gathers fanfare. Right on cue I dropped one of my filters into the stream. Now I was putting on a fun show as I splashed in after it. The water was only a few inches deep, but cold. Thank goodness for my excellent Lowa boots. I had to move quickly to grab the filter before it went for a ride down a nearby fall and would continue beyond my reach. Luckily I snatched it in the nick of time. Bear in mind, I had set up my tripod with its feet in the stream before this happened. So, I had to be very careful not to make matters worse and tip the tripod and camera rig over as I dashed to grab my filter. Ultimately, I dried the filter, affixed it to my lens and took a nice photograph which I am pleased with. I am sure my spectator was amused. 

The second shot took more planning and some luck. As I was working my way downstream I noticed a beautiful tree with yellow leaves standing watch over some smaller falls. All I saw had the makings of a nice composition, but I wished the yellow color of the tree could be further accentuated by the rising sun. Looking up through the gorge walls at the sun’s position I estimated it would crest the wall and shine on this tree (hopefully) in about 45 minutes to an hour. This gave me time to complete the hike downstream to the path’s terminus, and return. I did exactly that. When I returned to the tree and little waterfalls the sun had not yet crested but it seemed close. No sooner did I set up my camera, compose, and focus than the light hit the tree. A chill ran down my spine as the scene unfolded before my eyes. I watched and waited a little longer to get the light just right. I was able to make two slightly different compositions while the tree was ablaze using two different lenses. The second composition is shown here. The cold, blue appearance of the waterfall along with the brooding shadows in the gorge contrast wonderfully with the bright tree. I spent much time watching this scene, enjoying the beauty and serenity, well beyond the making of a few photographs. Does the life of a photographer get better than this? 

Having arose early in the morning and rushed out to meet the trees, rocks, and water I had forgone breakfast. This was a fact my grumbling belly now reminded me of as I returned to the parking lot. A short drive to the Ithaca Coffee Company solved this. For the rest of my day, I was blessed with a beautiful drive, westerly, across New York state in the midst of autumn color. I didn’t stop to capture any more photos, but I drank in the beauty and crisp air as I traveled along with the windows of my truck lowered.